Thursday, September 4, 2014

FL - Why were service members targeted in local sex stings?

Former Army JAG tells 10 Investigates the Air Force is breaking the law by participating in local sex stings where no military members are involved.

PINELLAS COUNTY - Not only have Central Florida law enforcement officers violated federal rules in conducting "To Catch a Predator"-inspired sex stings, but 10 Investigates has learned they may also violate longstanding federal law that prohibits the use of military resources to enforce state laws.

In a recent deposition, the agent indicated his goal was to try and trap service members who might be willing to break the law. But he also admitted to targeting -- and helping arrest -- civilians as well. According to an operation plan from a recent Pinellas County sting, the agent, William Glidewell, acted as a "chatter," communicating with potential investigative targets online. He was put up in a Clearwater Beach hotel for four days and reported to the sting's lead agencies, the Clearwater Police Department and Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

"It's odd that you would have a military (investigator) being so treated like civilian law enforcement," said Charles Rose, a Stetson Law professor and retired Army JAG Corps member. "You cannot assign military personnel -- on orders -- to a (local law enforcement) organization."

10 Investigates previously showed how the sex stings were taking valuable resources away from other areas of law enforcement and frequently targeted young men who were merely looking for women their own age.

12 comments
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The law to register is useless. All it does is make sex offenders another group to be targeted by "law abiding" citizens. How many times have sex offenders been targeted because of the registration? How many people have been hurt because previously a sex offender lived in a house and the new tenants have suffered because a vigilante has target those tenants? The registration must go or all felons must register to make the law fair. Registering for life is also wrong because4 as a person ages it becomes harder to register because they may be in a assisted living arrangement or even a nursing home. What's the mitigation for these people? This law was poorly thought out and must be repealed or significantly changed.

Now why would Jesse Singal want to deal with logical, "rational" article about residency restrictions where those who are illogical, irrational, politically correct, hysterical, myopic, looking for votes, will never read this article that has been published everywhere or, if they have, gnashed their teeth, cringed, and most likely called this article "trash."

"the agent indicated his goal was to try and trap service members who might be willing to break the law."

Right there you have the main reason why stings are morally wrong and should be banned. He was looking for those who might be willing to commit a crime, not those who did commit a crime. Police and FBI routinely break the law in order to entice and entrap others to break the law. They create opportunities that may never have come along for those entrapped otherwise or that might have come after their attitudes changed or they matured more. They create crimes and criminals! Then they bust them for merely showing up even though there is no real victim, no real crime commited, and the so-called "victim" was the instigator/predator. They assume they know what is on the mind of someone that shows up to an arranged meeting without taking into account that they may have come to get the usually very aggressive "victim" to leave them alone, they may have thought a friend or enemy was playing a joke on them, they may have wanted to find out who the person is to tell her parents or urge her to go home and behave differently, or if they were there for sex may have changed their minds after seeing the "child". They are busting them for thought control not actual crimes and that is wrong. Finally, why is it okay for them to break the law, disseminate child porn on the internet, use the internet to harass others in chat rooms, participate in prostitution, and arrange to have sex with others while supposedly underage? Does the law not apply to those who enforce it? If it does not apply, then we have a dictatorship not a democracy.

Oh I want to take a stab at this Megan's law post with my comment. if Take a look at it sensibly Does the word Nature of the beast come to mind. They might as well made a Law against Hurricanes or earthquakes.Nobody can stop nature, if its going to happen its going to happen. Some people have no problem living across the street from the sex offender, the sex offender is just another sinner.This is just an example of law going to extremes all in the name of public safety. It was an isolated case to start with but since than it has changed the way people look at society. A lot of Man's law is made more out of pride and Government people that think its for the betterment of society when at the same time it only compounds things. So my thoughts on this Megan's law and this Adam Wash law are that what really did they accomplish.Nature of the beast is Nature of the Beast and is a start to a downfall so lets face it who would you want to protect you or warn you God or Man. Now don't you all think we were doing good without Megan's law?

It should be noted that the residency restrictions in NY State apply only to those people on parole or probation. These individuals held past their 'release date' have not completed their sentence technically, because they still have a parole period to complete. As I understand it, if a person is paroled in NY, they still have usually about half their sentence left to complete on parole.